It’s not the news that fans of the American Nightmare will want

A bombshell new report has suggested that Triple H is not planning to have Cody Rhodes ‘finish the story’ at WrestleMania 40. The direction of the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship heading into WrestleMania season has been heavily debated. At present, Roman Reigns has been at the top of the company for over 1,200 days, and a lot of fans are wondering who will stand across the ring from The Tribal Chief in Philadelphia as the company puts on their 40th annual Show of Shows.

Last year, it was Cody Rhodes who had won the Royal Rumble granting him the right to challenge Reigns under the brightest lights, but, as we know, The American Nightmare was unsuccessful in his bid to finish the story and reach the WWE mountaintop, but his fans didn’t stop believing that he’d make it sometime soon.

WWE have announced groundbreaking news regarding the future of its flagship show, Monday Night Raw.

In fact, the prevailing belief throughout 2023 among many viewers was that Cody’s WrestleMania 39 loss would spur him on to finally win the gold at this year’s show, with the only shadow cast over this theory being the recent return of The Rock, who made a surprise appearance at a recent Raw to tease a match with Reigns. Well, the latest reports suggest Rhodes might have to wait a little longer to finish his story.

He’s currently not slated to beat Reigns at Mania

Cody believes this year will be a failure if he doesn’t

Cody’s entire WWE run since returning to the company in 2022 has revolved around his need to ‘finish his story’ and win the WWE Championship. Many expected him to do so last year, but that wasn’t to be, and now it seems this year won’t be on the cards either. According to Sports Illustrated, it’s been said that Triple H’s current plan is not to have Rhodes in the same position as last year. It’s believed that not only will he not headline WrestleMania 40, but that another ‘Mania will go by without The American Nightmare achieving his dream of being the WWE’s main champion.

In the report, Sports Illustrated revealed that multiple sources close to WWE Head of Creative Paul “Triple H” Levesque have indicated that Cody Rhodes will not headline this year’s event, nor will he “finish his story” at WrestleMania. This isn’t news that the former AEW star will want to hear after he recently admitted in an interview with CBS Sports that he would consider 2024 a failure if he doesn’t get that moment.

“I guess I feel like I don’t look at it from that perspective in terms of what would happen if I didn’t get to the finish line, because ultimately, that’s a failure, that would be a failed year & I’d hope that doesn’t come to pass…you can never call it & you mentioned there being doubt in peoples minds about will it happen, what could potentially happen.

“Doubt is a beautiful thing & for people to take the ride with you…I doubted that Daniel Bryan could survive a match with Triple H & then survive a triple-threat match & get out of ‘Mania 30 how he did, I don’t mind doubts at all, I, just myself, can’t have any in regards to everything else that’s going on, I have to be straight & arrow as far as where I’d like to go, how I’d like to get there.”

The company instead have plans for Cody to face CM Punk at Mania

The two engaged in a promo on Raw this week

As an alternative, the report from Sports Illustrated would go on to suggest that the WWE could look to stage Cody Rhodes vs CM Punk in Philadelphia. To support this idea, this week’s Raw was referenced, where Punk and Rhodes seemingly laid the groundwork for a future clash in a promo segment between the two. Though, at the time, not many thought that the possible match would happen as soon as this April.

So, this appears to leave the door open for The Rock, who has previously teased a match with Roman on TV, to step forward and compete in ‘Mania’s main event against his cousin. It’s a dream match that most have speculated about for years but seems to throw a spanner into the works of what fans thought they were getting this year.

Interestingly, on the 23rd of January, it came out that Rock had officially joined the WWE Board of Directors as part of the TKO Group. Should Dwayne Johnson be the one to compete at WrestleMania, it’s unlikely that the two things are connected, but The Great One has certainly been making many news headlines in recent days as we head into what is typically WWE’s busiest period. As always, as more comes out about Cody Rhodes and what the plan is for him at WrestleMania 40, GiveMeSport will keep you informed.